OTTAWA, Ohio (WLIO) – An Ohio Senate candidate is talking to Putnam County voters about what he would like to see happen in Columbus.
Craig Riedel is discussing his 2026 campaign for the 1st District State Senate seat. If elected to serve the 10-county district, Riedel says he wants to continue efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the state, and he supports the school choice voucher program.
Craig Riedel is discussing his 2026 campaign for the 1st District State Senate seat.
The Republican also addressed his plan to work on eliminating the state income tax, which he believes is needed to help keep younger Ohioans from moving out of the state.
“We're close to getting that accomplished. We're probably just maybe four to six years away from having that done. And I believe, you know, that's one little piece of the puzzle that'll that'll incentivize, you know, people, particularly young people, to stay in Ohio, to fill these jobs, because there are companies all over the all of the world that want to locate in Ohio. They like our work ethic. They like what we believe in, our values, and they also like all the natural gas sitting underneath Ohio,” says Craig Riedel, Republican 1st District Senate Candidate.
Riedel also emphasized the need to address rising property taxes across Ohio.
“And there are a lot of good ideas. I know that the General Assembly is kicking around right now to get control of this matter. I know there isn't, there's an effort out there that wants to eliminate property taxes entirely. I don't think that's feasible. Because if you do that, you know, how are you going to fund your schools? How are you, how are you, you know, how are you going to fund fire stations and police stations and all these things that depend on that? So if you know, if you eliminate the property tax, you're going to have to find that revenue in another location,” adds Riedel.
So far, Riedel and Republican State Representative Jim Hoops have announced their intentions to run for the 1st District State Senate seat in the 2026 elections.
